6.5 x 47 Lapua Reloading

[Milton02]

All,

Been reloading for about 2 years now for my .300 Win and recently added a 6.5 Lapua to the collection.

I feel I understand the general principles for reloading, but I'm humble enough to realize that tips from people far more experienced than I are worth their weight in gold. For now, some questions in the back of my mind:

1) What dies should I get - looking for maximum accuracy and repeatability
--should be noted I have the RCBS press
2) Can someone explain resizing off the shoulder and what I'm looking to accomplish in resizing the brass?
3) How do bushing dies work - I know this is probably a silly question, but I still don't know!

I'm sure there are other questions, but I can't think of any right now. Any assistance you experts can provide is greatly appreciated! Thanks

-Ian

 

[Citius7]

1. Redding, Forster, and Whidden are my go to dies for the best of the best. If it's micrometer seating dies your after, then either Whidden or Forster. For bushing sizing dies, I'd go with either Redding or Whidden. The bushings on Forster's stuff is proprietary to Forster only. That's bad. They do give you 3 bushing though if you get a bushing sizer from them. That's good. You just can't use those bushings elsewhere. Now. To know what bushings you need. Go to redding's website. Bushing Selection - Redding Reloading Equipment: reloading equipment for rifles, handguns, pistols, revolvers and SAECO bullet casting equipment

It's a good read on breaking down exactly what and how of the bushing resizing. Basically a bushing die allows you to tailor your neck tension to exactly what ya need. Bolt guns usually run 1 to 3 thousandths tension tops!

2. When you set your dies up after your first shooting you measure your base to shoulder using a bump gauge (whidden supplies these with their sets for free). You'll get some number. Then resize your brass like you do with all your handloads. Then put that brass back into the your bump gauge. If you see the same number. That means your sizing due is too far away from your shellholder and it needs to be a bit closer. I run only about 1 thou shoulder bump. It basically shows how much the brass is getting worked at the shoulder. This gives good reliability in chambering.

3. Bushing dies work just like a regular full length sizing die or neck die (depending on which one you get). The only difference is your ability to tailor your neck tension to your cartridge. Like I stated above. Redding has a great formula. Bullet width plus thickness of brass plus thickness of brass minus .002 thou (or whatever tension your interested in). I didn't stuffer twice with the thickness of brass when I said it. You take that measurement times two because of each side of the neck. Clear as mud? Or just take a loaded cartridge and measure that minus .002 and boom. That's ur bushing size u need. Usually with bushings u don't need to use an expander ball. But some still do.

Any other questions please don't hesitate to ask. I went quickly so I may have missed something.

 

[dsculley]

I am using a Harrell Precision bushing die and Forster's Micrometer seating die, The main difference in a bushing die and a full length die is that the bushing die does not have an expander. The bushing floats to help maintain concentricity. Measure the neck on a loaded round then subtract .002. That will be a good place to start with your bushing size. Call Mr. Harrell and he will help you.

 

[Citius7]

All my bushing sizers have expander balls. Different for each brand.

 

[Milton02]

Follow up question, how do I know what bushing size I need?

 

[Citius7]

Take a loaded round measure it. Subtract .002. So if your loaded round is .295. You need a .293 bushing That's the easiest way.

 

[el matador]

Setting up a full-length die or body die for a shoulder bump of .001" is not as easy as it sounds. Your dies have 14 threads per inch, so each full turn advances the die .071". A lot of people will tell you to try sizing a case, and if the shoulder hasn't moved then do another 1/4 turn of the die and try again. This is far too coarse of an adjustment to get .001" of shoulder bump. It takes a little patience to do it right. Take good notes of how you get it set up so it can be repeated next time.

For a good set of dies that's simple to use and not terribly expensive I like the Redding Master Hunter dies. These sets have a regular full-length sizer and a micrometer seater. Forster has dies that are similar (and also very good), but for some reason they don't offer a set with the micrometer seater. You can buy them separately or get the set w/o micrometer. Their regular Benchrest seating die set is a good value if you don't want to pay for a micrometer. These dies still have the sleeve that keeps the case nice and straight as the bullet is seated. Forster's full-length sizers have a unique feature that I believe helps with concentricity: The expander is located way up high, so that the bottom of the neck is being expanded while the top of the neck is still held tightly in the die. Other brands have the expander down low and the brass is not supported during neck expansion.

Bushing dies have their place (I own a few). For beginners and anyone that likes to keep it simple I'd recommend a regular full-length sizing die. That's what I mostly use these days and they work very well, especially if you buy good quality brass to start with. If you neck-turn your brass the bushing dies are nice to have.

 

[Hondo64d]

All,

Been reloading for about 2 years now for my .300 Win and recently added a 6.5 Lapua to the collection.

I feel I understand the general principles for reloading, but I'm humble enough to realize that tips from people far more experienced than I are worth their weight in gold. For now, some questions in the back of my mind:

1) What dies should I get - looking for maximum accuracy and repeatability
--should be noted I have the RCBS press
2) Can someone explain resizing off the shoulder and what I'm looking to accomplish in resizing the brass?
3) How do bushing dies work - I know this is probably a silly question, but I still don't know!

I'm sure there are other questions, but I can't think of any right now. Any assistance you experts can provide is greatly appreciated! Thanks

-Ian

Send three fired cases to Harrell's Precision and have them send you a custom fitted FL bushing Die. It cost no more than a Redding FL bushing die and will be a better match to your chamber. A .288 bushing is a good place to start for proper neck tension. I like the Forster micrometer adjustable seating Die. Cheaper than the Redding, but gives up nothing to it in terms of precision.

Get a case bump gauge to measure shoulder set back. There are several manufacturers. You can even measure shoulder bump with a caliper and 9mm case, but it is not as refined of a method. You are wanting to push the shoulder back about .001 to .002" but ultimately your rifle will tell you when sizing is optimal by how much effort is required to close the bolt. I like just barely perceptible resistance on closing.

A bushing die lets you choose how much you squeeze the neck down by what size bushing you select. Conventional wisdom says you want about .001 to .002" of neck tension. That is a sized neck will measure .001 to .002" smaller than a loaded round. For ammo that will be fired from a magazine, I prefer .002".

John

 

[dsculley]

As Hondo and I have already suggested, get the Harrell Precision die. First get a 0.287" bushing. Use this to size the neck. Lube the neck, drive the bushing about 2/3 of the way to the shoulder (I used a small hammer with tape on the face then used a small vice grip plier with tape on the jaws to remove the bushing), prime the case, charge with reasonable powder charge. If you have not gotten your seating die yet, you can use a short piece of copper tubing of the appropriate size and drive the bullet into the neck to seat (if you want you can chamfer the end of the tubing). You can use this somewhat crude method to load and fire three cases three times each (we are trying to fire form the cases to the chamber not make super accurate rounds). Then you can send these cases to Mr. Harrell. If you have any questions, call and talk to Mr. Harrell, you will find he is a wealth of knowledge.

When you get your bushing, you may want to order a set of three: 0.286, 0.287, 0.288. You will most likely use the 0.287 but you can try the others to see if they make a difference.

Mr. Harrell will include a gauge you can set on the shoulder and measure with your caliper. If the die you get from him is properly set up, it will set your shoulder back 0.002". Use this gauge and compare a fired case to a sized case. You are just looking for 0.002" difference (or 0.001" if you want a tighter fit. When you adjust your bushing die, make sure the bushing is just loose enough to "rattle" inside the die. This will allow it to slide over the neck while retaining concentricity. My die would not initially set the shoulder back, so I ground the top face of my shell holder on my belt sander until I got the correct sizing.

The Forster Micrometer seating die is very nice and user friendly. Once your initial setting is complete, the micrometer is very accurate and repeatable. The scale is larger and easier to read than the scale on the Redding die.

Below is a cutaway view of a Redding S-Type bushing die. As you can see, it does appear have an expander on the decapping stem. The Harrell die does not. The bushing sizes the neck to the required diameter.